Two cheers for the C of E

Archbishop  of Wales Andy John blesses a locomotive                                    Source: Herald Wales

The intention is in the title, Living in Love and Faith (LLF). The situation would have been clearer if LLF had been titled Living in Sin and Faith.

Today it has been announced that "For the first time, under historic plans outlined on Wednesday 18 January 2023, same-sex couples will be able to come to church to give thanks for their civil marriage or civil partnership and receive God’s blessing. The Bishops of the Church of England will be issuing an apology later this week to LGBTQI+ people for the “rejection, exclusion and hostility” they have faced in churches and the impact this has had on their lives."

Two cheers then for the declaration "The formal teaching of the Church of England as set out in the canons and authorised liturgies – that Holy Matrimony is between one man and one woman for life – would not change."

If the example of the Church in Wales is followed there will be moves to allow same sex weddings in Church as happened when the ordination of women to the priesthood was declared a half-way house having achieved their initial goal.

According to the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell: 

"This is not the end of that journey but we have reached a milestone and I hope that these prayers of love and faith can provide a way for us all to celebrate and affirm same-sex relationships.

"Over the last six years, we have been confronted time and time again with examples of the rejection, exclusion, and hostility that many LGBTQI+ people have received in churches.

"Both personally and on behalf of my fellow bishops I would like to express our deep sorrow and grief at the way LGBTQI+ people and those they love have been treated by the Church which, most of all, ought to recognise everyone as precious and created in the image of God.  We are deeply sorry and ashamed and want to take this opportunity to begin again in the spirit of repentance which our faith teaches us."

The trajectory is obvious. 

I do not know of anyone who has been confronted with examples of "rejection, exclusion, and hostility" of the many LGBTQI+ Abp Cottrell refers to. Only unsupported allegations by activists who label anyone with a contrary opinion to theirs as homophobic.

By contrast many others have experienced rejection and hostility resulting in exclusion simply for striving to remain faithful to their baptismal promises.

Church blessings have become commonplace. Some argue that if inanimate objects, as illustrated above, and animals can be blessed, why not same-sex unions. 

Inanimate objects and animals do not have souls, the cure of which is entrusted by the bishop in the clergy with the words "Receive this cure of souls which is both yours and mine."

Civil partnerships are in themselves a blessing but nothing is ever good enough for those seeking to secularise the Church. 

Holy Matrimony

My previous entry generated quite a lot of heat from commentators but not on my main point, the sanctity of marriage. 

Understandably people have become weary of the same-sex marriage debate. It drags on and on.

Revisionists do not give up. They maintain pressure until all become used to their ideas. They claim that, if approved, same-sex marriage would be accepted just as divorce and re-marriage in Church no longer raises eyebrows.

The protection of Holy Matrimony deserves more. The Church should be protecting marriage as defined,  the lifelong, faithful union between one man and one woman.

Defenders of traditional marriage are accused of homophobia and bigotry. That is unfair. What people  do in private is between them and their maker but that is not good enough for promoters of same-sex unions who expect others to legitimise their unions by redefining marriage. 

Defenders of traditional marriage who have homosexual friends are aware that many are equally upset by demands for same-sex marriage in Church. As one succinctly put it, marriage is for heterosexuals. Same-sex couples have civil partnerships. 

My entry in 2012, To be joined together, included a reference to an article 'The six ways homosexual activists manipulate public opinion' which stated: "Anyone who is concerned about the influence of the homosexual agenda on reshaping traditional values must become intimately familiar with the major tactics that homophiles commonly employ in order to anticipate them and respond in charity and truth. Homophile strategists are very adept at manipulating public opinion with an arsenal of six tactics that are based upon deceptions and half‑truths:

• Exploit the “victim” status;
• Use the sympathetic media;
• Confuse and neutralize the churches;
• Slander and stereotype Christians;
• Bait and switch (hide their true nature); and
• Intimidation.

"By far the most popular homophile tactic is the claim to victim status, which is a very powerful, almost paralyzing, weapon that gives them a distinct advantage in the public square."

The success of this strategy can be seen at the entrance to 10 Downing street where a pride arch was erected to mark Pride Month 2021. Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a reception to celebrate the achievements of LGBT people.

The Prime Minister said the UK’s first ever global LGBT conference will be about ‘kindness, tolerance and openness’ and will look at what more can be done to promote LGBT equality around the world.

We hear a lot about 'equality'. In the absence of hard theological evidence, secular notion of equality was used to justify the ordination of women. The same argument is being used to allow same-sex couples to marry in Church. 

Woke cajoling has not only enforced acceptance of political correctness. It seeks to legitimise that which defies logic as if black can be white and white, black.

'Female' is defined as "of or denoting the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs, distinguished biologically by the production of gametes (ova) which can be fertilized by male gametes." 'Male' is defined as "of or denoting the sex that produces gametes, especially spermatozoa, with which a female may be fertilized or inseminated to produce offspring."

Woke personal preference permits those inclined not only to choose their own gender but to insist that others recognise their wish by using gender-neutral pronouns, something that Canadian university professor Dr Jordan Peterson challenged and suffered for expressing logical rather than woke opinions.

Demonized by progressives, the Guardian carried this vitriolic piece: 'How dangerous is Jordan B Peterson, the rightwing professor who 'hit a hornets' nest'?'

The selfishness of feminist ideas of equality has changed Great Britain's historic Anglicanism based scripture and tradition replacing it with an attitude of take what you want regardless of scripture and tradition or whoever you hurt. Consequently many have been left un-churched. The forgotten victims.

Holy Matrimony is being attacked under the banner of equality.  

From the Church in Wales web site Holy Matrimony is properly defined:

 

"Drawing on the teaching of the Bible, and of the Church down through the centuries, the Church in Wales Marriage Service talks about marriage as a gift of God. Marriage is described as the lifelong, faithful union between a man and a woman, and married love is compared with the love Jesus has for his people – a love expressed in his willing sacrifice of himself on the cross."

But the current bench of bishops, following their manipulation of the Governing Body, now claim that “it is pastorally unsustainable for the Church to make no formal provision for those in same-gender relationships”. 

The bench have published their proposals to introduce same-sex blessings. In their explanatory memorandum they write:

"The Bench believes that, in the fullness of time, the Governing Body will have to consider whether it wishes to consider a change in the Church’s teaching concerning marriage. This could enable a couple wishing to live in a faithful and mutually committed same-sex relationship to celebrate the rite of marriage in Church." 

Many same-sex couples already live in faithful and mutually committed same-sex relationships. They are accepted in the Church but to pretend under 'equality' rules that same-sex couples are no different to one-man - one-woman marriage defies logic.

The woke culture has become so prevalent that a poll in 2018 found that over half  of our MPs were afraid to speak their mind. The silent majority must speak up. From C4M:

Bad company ruins good morals

Baroness Morgan in St Davids Cathedral Library for #BibleSunday                              Source: Twitter @StDavCathLib 

The quote from Corinthians "Do not be deceived: 'Bad company ruins good morals' " sits uneasily under the hashtag link #BibleSunday in the photograph associated with this St Davids Cathedral Library tweet.

Baroness Eluned Morgan must have been keeping bad company according to a BBC News item.

She told the BBC that she will give up her peerage and title if she becomes first minister adding, "A difficult decision because I'm very proud of the work that I have done in the House of Lords: to help promote gay marriage...". [My emphasis - Ed.]

A curious message after viewing a display of ancient bibles in the Cathedral library. Perhaps she was searching for a reference in support of gay marriage in holy scripture after listening to errant bishops promote same sex marriage rather than the sanctity of Holy Matrimony:

"The introduction to the Church in Wales Marriage Service describes marriage as a gift from God.  The Bible teaches that marriage is a life-long, faithful union between a man and a woman, and compares married love with the love Jesus has for his people – a love expressed in his willing sacrifice of himself on the cross."

St Davids has become a hotbed of feminist intrigue under the first female bishop to be appointed in the Church in Wales whose driving force is most noticeable when advancing her LGBT agenda along with the bishop of Llandaff.

More recently +Joanna has been condemned for her misandry after being caught out ridding her diocese of elderly male clergy after years of faithful service to the Church.

Such clergy have devoted their lives to preaching the Gospel according to scripture and tradition, unlike many of the new breed of clergy who have 'come to faith' later in life with the notion that the Church has been in error for 2,000 years.

Sadly the baroness has been caught up in the whole sorry mess, another example of "Ministry and Equality in the Church in Wales" advocated by MAE Cymru voicing the values of a "fair and just society" as they see them. (Scroll down in the link to MAECYMRU NETWORKING LUNCH JULY 2018).